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La-kawn Sawatdee Siam

Last Tuesday the whole office gathered for a send-off ceremony for me and a Mongolian office mate. Our bosses gave us our certificates and of course we gave our little speeches. I realized that day that I'm really leaving Thailand. That my days here in Siam are numbered.

And now I come to this day – my last full day of stay here in Thailand. Tomorrow I'll be going to the airport, ride a plane and look at Thailand from the air for the last time. Tomorrow, I will say “la-kawn sawatdee Siam” (farewell Siam).

My 6 months stay in Thailand passed very quick. I can still remember my first day here, my first meet-up with my office mates, my first nasty experience of tasting super-spicy Thai food, my first attempt to cook, the joy of finally learning how to bike, my first drinking session with my kababayans in the Filipino community...such memories, such sweet memories!

I wrote in my final report that I learned many things that will be of great benefit for my career. Frankly, that is just half of the story because I didn't wrote the other things that I learned.

My 6-months stay in Thailand taught me the highs and lows of living alone outside of my country. I felt like an exile in a land of foreign tongues and alien food. I felt the loneliness that most Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) feel. It is sad to celebrate New Year and other special occasions away from my love ones.

My only companion: the Teddy Bear that my Beloved asked me to bring to Thailand.

I met a lot of people of different races. I met Thais, Indians, Bangladeshis, Burmese, Vietnamese, Italian, Spaniard, and many more. This exposure taught me how to deal with other people of various cultural backgrounds. I learned that a smile is the best tool in establishing friendship with other people. Human beings, no matter what their backgrounds are, understand that a smile is a welcoming gesture.

A gesture of friendship. Flowers given to me by a Thai lady, who is actually a Catholic sister.

The best part of my stay in Thailand is my travels. I am thankful for generous friends who invited me to join their travels. I'm sure that without their help I may not be able to travel places located far away from Bangkok.

I will give you a hint that the travels that I already posted here on this blog are less than 50% of my travels to the many places that I visited in Thailand.

A preview of my future posts: hitting the beach.

Will I be able to visit Thailand again? I have no sure answer for that. My opportunity to visit Thailand is unplanned because it came to me as a surprise. Maybe my next visit to this country will come as a surprise as well.

You are welcome STP. I was surprised as you are. I'm glad that missionaries managed to gain a foothold in Thailand. I have more stories to tell regarding Catholic churches and missionaries. One blog post will bring us back to the past.

I am honoured to have met you through fiel kun and saddened because I didnt get to meet you in person. I will continue to read as I wanted to see your perspective of Thailand which is a different window from mine. Your travels alone are worth reading. Good luck to you and God bless! I hope to meet you here, if you ever come back, or in our home country.